Ecuadorian Coast!

So we headed out to Parque Machalilla on the Coast of Ecuador on the evening of the 17th... we left cold quito after getting our bus tickets pick-pocketed using the public transportation. Luckily all our valuables were hidden well enough and they only got the bus tickets (which we didn´t have to re-pay for) and my little notebook that had all my daily budget information in it... They were really quite good, but we were on to them as they shoved up against us on the Trole... sneaky and we thought we outsmarted them! But they were able to sneak into the breast pocket of my jacket without me knowing it! Well, once again, we were lucky! So much for cheap public transportation!

We caught a night bus and made it to Puerto Lopez by morning. It was a cold airconditioned ride, and a little bumpy, but we made it! We practiced our spanish in the local market where they were hacking at dead animal carcasses on wooden stumps, hacking through bones and meat...flinging raw meat everywhere...the stray dogs were loving it... I was a little grossed out! But we were on the coast and it was HOT! we got some information on the national park and took a moto-taxi (a contraption where a cart is attached to a motorcycle to carry passengers) to the park entrance. There is a picture of a few kids crawling on one...check it out....so we hiked into the park and saw lots of different animals like pigs, birds, horses, goats, and cows. We hiked to a town called Agua Blanca where a guide took us on a 2 hour tour of the area. We settled into our campground, the only ones, and enjoyed a nice evening.

The next day we headed to Los Frailles, which was another region of the park...a beautiful beach which we got to enjoy almost completely to ourselves...lots of sea life and we ran into a large iguana on the trail on our way out! We camped in the town on the beach and got up this morning and walked through the town´s morning fishing frenzy to catch some busses to Canoa. We walked along the beach as boats were bringing fish in, and women, and children were be-heading and gutting the fish to be sold in the markets. It was amazing and beautiful. There is a picture of one of the boats we saw. We are now in Canoa and have just enjoyed a free drink at the bar of our hostal because we each picked up a bag of trash on the beach. It is a hostal policy...so we helped the environment and got rewarded for it...good times here in Ecuador! We will enjoy the coast a few more days and then head back to Quito to meet our parents on Christmas Eve! I can´t believe it is almost Christmas...sure feels strange to be in another country... we would like to wish everyone a healthy and happy Christmas and an even healthier and happier new year!